Like Father, Like Son (1974) Massacre Mafia Style

Mimi Miceli Jr. is, the son of a Mafia don who was exiled back to Sicily. He wants to get back into the family business and transplant it from New York to Hollywood. After the kidnapping for ransom of a West Coast Mafia boss, Mimi is back in the "life." With the blessing of the local clan, Mimi attempts to takedown a Hollywood pimp named Superspook, who turns out to no easy mark.

"The Executioner" (better known by its more exploitive title "Massacre Mafia Style") is the most jaw dropping and unintentionally hilarious film I've seen in a long while. Its certainly the most kitschy tale of the mafia I've seen, with everyone in this film resembling a bad lounge singer. Auteur Duke Mitchell directed, wrote, produced, starred, and even composed the especially annoying music to this one, and proved to be completely inept in all departments. However, its that special Ed Wood style of incompetency where its obvious the maker had a lot of enthusiasm in his project, making everything even more over-the-top. Mitchell strives for the scope of "The Godfather" but has about fifteen dollars to work with.

There are several memorably campy moments to be found in this film. The opening is a real stunner, one of the most unforgettable opening sequences in film history (for better or worse). Again, its obvious Mitchell was trying to make something of quality, but his incompetence and budget limitations got in the way. Not to mention his hair, which is dyed gray to show aging (rather blatantly also). Also, the dialog is unbelievably politically incorrect and bound to offend most ears. However, psychotronic fans enjoy this kind of talk, and "Massacre Mafia Style" is a true exploitation gem.